16 Days to #Vanlife

Just about two weeks left. All of this is not how I imagined it happening. The Covid19 pandemic has completely altered my plans. Originally I planned on working in the city while van dwelling around the city using gyms for showers. I would go out and adventure on the weekends or take some time off throughout the summer. The main goal was to always save as much money as possible since I would not be paying rent. Now the city is basically shut down still and all gyms are closed. I have been working remotely from almost three months. I never planned on working from the van because of the lack of internet. Now my plans have shifted since I need a place to work and my lease is up at the end of the month. Sadly I have to resort to going back to my mom's, but with all public places banning any gathers and all restaurants and coffee shops only doing drive thru or pick up, I have next to no other options. The main goal is still being achieved by being able to avoid paying rent. But this is taking away from the real vanlife experience I was hoping for. As of now my office is closed until mid June and I know it will be extended past that. There are so upsides to all this though. I will not be forced to be in the city since I don't have to be there to work. If I have internet I can work anywhere. This is will allow me to visit James and Chey, or even Truth and Kayla in California. Normally it would require more communication with work to do something like that. I am planning on staying a couple weeks in California in June. Also James's birthday is June and Chey's is in July so I also plan on making more trips to Pullman. I am doing my best to find the bright side of whatever is thrown my direction, especially during this pandemic.

I believe I mentioned book club in my last post. I am really getting sucked into the book we are reading. I was hoping being in a club would make me read more and keep me motivated. I have really been meaning to do it more and I am glad this is helping me do that. I'm pretty sure only James, Chey, and myself are reading right now since no one else has posted in the FB group.. so I really hope this picks up some momentum and continues.

I have been watching a ton of car build videos on Youtube lately.. and I have been looking at salvage car auctions online. I am constantly thinking about more work for the van as well as finally getting started on my other two project. The 1959 Ford Custom 300 and the 1972 VW Bus. I am hoping being back home from a little while will allow me to really get my hands dirty on those. And once I save enough money I can build a shop and start building the collection. I have always had a passion for cars and mechanic work but being away at college and having been working so much the past 3 years those passions have fallen off some. Now that I have some more time and some good money coming in I can reignite the fire.

Speaking of, I have of course been getting more things done on the van each weekend. All small but very important things. Last weekend I got my drain installed on the sink so now the water system is one hundo percent done. I also got a new latch for my slider window, so the window now stays shut. The latch wasn't an exact match and will need some custom work but for now it is doing the job. I also did some body work on the hood and got it sanded and primed and ready for paint. This weekend I installed new glass runners and seals on my front windows. The old ones were some real crispy critters. Now I have a perfect seal around the window and driving is now even quieter. I also changed my transmission fluid and filter, everything looked great which made me happy. While I was doing some preventative maintenance I decided to check out the front brakes since I hadn't yet. Luckily they were still solid. I just added some grease to the king pins to make sure they continued to work well. I also ordered tie rods and shocks since my steering has been off, the current ones are pretty worn and loose. Those should be here by the end of the week. I am very excited to get the steering tightened up. Paint should be coming soon, I am trying to plan how to go about it. I am thinking I will try and utilize the long weekend next weekend to get that really going. Fingers crossed. Pics to follow as always.

27 Days to #Vanlife

I am now under one month. Time always goes faster than you think. I started this blog in January with 130 days to go. What have I really done in the last 100 days? It never feels like I have done enough or like I have done anything meaningful. Sure I have made a lot of progress on the van. I have spent a lot of time with my parents. There hasn't been anything really preventing me from doing whatever I want but yet I still have the feeling of the last 100ish days being a blink. How do you slow down time? Some days feel like they last weeks, and others its as if you are on autopilot until you realize its time to sleep. Hoping to find some of these answers soon.

Corona is still dominating the world and ever single conversation with everyone. It is exhausting. It's hasn't gotten better but yet it doesn't feel as scary anymore. Maybe because we are adapting to a new normal? Maybe because we just don't get care anymore? We are kind of blessed being in WA because parts of the country and world are WAY worse. Ignorance is bliss I guess. I am completely over the constant corona conversations and all the politics with every single decision. America seems so divided right now. Has it always been this way? or I am just paying more attention now because I am older? It doesn't need to be like this but America will never figure that out. I sound so bleak right now, but all this shit is so mentally draining. I feel like I want to runaway and completely "disconnect".

Surprisingly work has turned into a safe place from this madness. I really don't mind working at home anymore and actually working provides a nice escape. Of course I would rather being doing a million other things but it is nice to not dread working for the time being. I am thriving at work at a time where it seems my peers are struggling the most. They can't concentrate or be productive where as I have never been more productive. It's a shame because they cut our pay and raises seem completely out of the question because of all this so I can understand why my peers feel the way they do.

Last weekend I went over to Pullman and spent the whole week with the loves of my life, James and Chey. I had more time slowing moments there than the entire 100 days over here. Maybe that's the key, small towns, close community, and best friends. I worked over there all week without any issues, that was a great sign for me. We started off my visit with a virtual wine tasting which was so much fun. We drank five bottles between the three of us which was way too much, ask James about that. The following weekend we went to Wawawai in the vans for a night by the river. It was my first night in the van. It got me really excited for whats to come. I probably would have stayed longer as there was nothing really preventing me from leaving other than my lease ending this month. I am currently in the process of packing everything up.

I am trying to think of what else to cover from the past month of my absence. I like how I talked about posting more often and then did the exact opposite. I am just going to hit some highlights to come to my head. I made it through my third tax season at work. My roommate Austin and I bonded a lot. I joined a book club with James and Chey. Started watch Goonzquad on YouTube religiously. Yeah that's all I got other than van updates. Explains why I haven't posted.